Mingjie Zhang

TL;DR: The solution structure of Ca2-free calmodulin has been determined by NMR spectroscopy, and is compared to the previously reported structure of the Ca2+-saturated form, and concerted movements of helices A and D with respect to B and C, are likely responsible for the cooperative Ca2+,binding property observed between two adjacent EF-hand sites in the amino- and carboxy-terminal domains.

TL;DR: It is discovered that SynGAP, one of the most abundant PSD proteins and a Ras/Rap GTPase activator, forms a homo-trimer and binds to multiple copies of PSD-95, which induces phase separation and forms highly concentrated liquid-like droplets reminiscent of the PSD.

TL;DR: As the major components of the postsynaptic density of excitatory neuronal synapses, PDZ-domain-containing scaffold proteins regulate the clustering of surface glutamate receptors, organize synaptic signalling complexes, participate in the dynamic trafficking of receptors and ion channels, and coordinate cytoskeletal dynamics.

TL;DR: A biochemical reconstitution approach is used to show that, both in solution and on supported membrane bilayers, multivalent interaction networks formed by major excitatory postsynaptic density (PSD) scaffold proteins led to formation of PSD-like assemblies via phase separation.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors characterized two lines of mutant mice with Shank3 mutations linked to ASD and schizophrenia and found both shared and distinct synaptic and behavioral phenotypes, which may inform exploration of these relationships in human patients.